The First Draft

In high school, I was a band kid, through and through… until my junior year.

I realized I didn’t really want to pursue any of my classes in college – I was certainly not interested in majoring in science or math, history was okay. English was my favorite – but not a career option (for me). I was interested in photography, though, so I filled out an application to join the yearbook staff at the end of my sophomore year.

I was accepted, and when August rolled around I joined the photography staff to take photos at two-a-days before school started.

Being a photographer was great, but we needed more people designing pages. I was recruited, and it was pretty much love at first sight. I could sit in front of inDesign all day, and by the end of the year my editor asked if I would be the ads & index section editor for the next year.

I still took photos, but page design was my passion. By the time I left high school, I was inDesign certified and headed to college to be an Art Director.

I’ve gone through my college background in another post, so I’m not going to go through it again here. The important thing to note is that when I changed my major to journalism/advertising, I fell in love with it in my first class.

I worked in advertising for a while, but now I’m back to my journalism roots as a journalism teacher. I just attended my first conference, and if I wasn’t sure this is where I’m supposed to be, I am now.

This weekend I had the privilege of attending the Texas Association of Journalism Educator’s Fall Fiesta, and it was inspiring.

I met a lot of fun, welcoming people, learned a TON, and I had to figure out how to pack about 15 pounds worth of free yearbooks from the reps so that I could get them on my plane home.

I got to see my advisor from high school and meet some of the other advisors in my area. I got to hear Scott Pelley talk, and meet him after to sign my name card. I learned about writing and affecting my schools culture with our yearbook and I saw the Alamo.

I’ve lived in Texas all my life, but I’ve never been to the Alamo.

I guess in the end I shouldn’t be so surprised at how much I love journalism. After all, I listen to almost exclusively true crime podcasts. I love stories. I like to tell stories. I like to help other people tell their stories.

It may have taken me a while to get here, but I’m glad that I did. I feel inspired and excited about going back to my students with all of the new information I have. And I really can’t wait until my next conference!